diagram
Americannoun
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a figure, usually consisting of a line drawing, made to accompany and illustrate a geometrical theorem, mathematical demonstration, etc.
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a drawing or plan that outlines and explains the parts, operation, etc., of something.
a diagram of an engine.
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a chart, plan, or scheme.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a sketch, outline, or plan demonstrating the form or workings of something
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maths a pictorial representation of a quantity or of a relationship
a Venn diagram
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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diagrammableadjective
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diagrammaticadjective
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misdiagrammedadjective
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undiagramedadjective
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undiagrammedadjective
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diagrammaticallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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diagramsimple
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diagramssimple
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have diagramedperfect
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have diagrammedperfect
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has diagramedperfect
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has diagrammedperfect
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am diagramingprogressive
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am diagrammingprogressive
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are diagramingprogressive
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are diagrammingprogressive
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is diagramingprogressive
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is diagrammingprogressive
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have been diagramingperfect progressive
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have been diagrammingperfect progressive
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has been diagramingperfect progressive
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has been diagrammingperfect progressive
Past
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diagramedsimple
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diagrammedsimple
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had diagramedperfect
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had diagrammedperfect
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was diagramingprogressive
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was diagrammingprogressive
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were diagramingprogressive
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were diagrammingprogressive
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had been diagramingperfect progressive
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had been diagrammingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of diagram
1610–20; < Latin diagramma < Greek: that which is marked out by lines. See dia-, -gram 1
Explanation
A diagram is a drawing that shows the different parts of something and how they work together. If you follow a diagram for assembling bunk beds and finish with parts left over, you should ask for the top bunk, not the bottom one. Diagram goes back to the Greek verb diagraphein, meaning "to mark out by lines," and a diagram uses line drawings to explain something. Electronic equipment comes with a long instruction booklet and a one-page diagram, and it's usually the diagram that helps most in connecting the device. A diagram can also be a complex drawing, like an engineering plan for airplanes. When you make a line drawing of your own, you can use diagram as a verb, as when you diagram a sentence.
Vocabulary lists containing diagram
Write On!: Graph and Gram
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Word Generation Science - Scientific Thinking
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This diagram serves as a visual guide to different stable quantum phases, each defined by fixed topological properties.
From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026
“I discovered puppetry around the same time, because it’s sort of the center of that Venn diagram of crafts, fine arts, engineering and acting,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Alongside his own survey of Mont Blanc published in a monumental chromolithograph is his modest diagram of its underlying crystalline structure, as if it were a faceted gem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
It would seem that the Venn diagram that appeared on-screen during the performance was intentional, as rife with meaning as her use of the word “push.”
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2026
I wondered if “something” to Annie included all the possible somethings that existed to me, and then I got mad at myself for drawing a diagram of those somethings in my head.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
Collina believes it is hugely important to use real scenarios, not just dossiers and diagrams.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
No need to untangle the complex hypocrisy here — it’s all laid out in arrows and diagrams.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Patterns resembling Voronoi diagrams can often be seen in nature, including the markings on giraffes.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
In “How Black Music Took Over the World,” Mr. Gibbs uses clocklike diagrams to illustrate “many of the aspects of Black music that are hard to notice, or get hidden, using Western notation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
I shall generally use diagrams in which time increases upward and one of the spatial dimensions is shown horizontally.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
They’ve been so good that offenses have diagramed plans around them, assigning double-teams and going above and beyond to neutralize them.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
The 15-1 vote favors the “North of C-ID” option, just diagramed this winter, underground near the corner of Fourth Avenue and James Street.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
Watch Purdy take the snap, forget what’s supposed to happen or how a play was diagramed, keep your eyes on the overachieving quarterback, and just hold your breath.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2023
He was a coach with few rules, but players competed hard for him because he managed relationships as well as he diagramed plays.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 29, 2021
“We haven’t diagramed a single sentence all year. I’m getting worried about the College Boards.”
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
They diagrammed it for their BP sponsors as a big triangle beneath the rising line of future carbon emissions, what Socolow recalls describing as a “wedge,” cut up into equal-sized slices.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
The shift in attitude hasn’t been firmly diagrammed; instead, what’s going on here is mostly subconscious, like a collective unlocking of forbidden territory.
From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2026
Forget the stodgy days of X’s and O’s diagrammed in the playbook.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
You already have diagrammed some of the Mark Twain excerpt and know how plots move along.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
He came and diagrammed a few sentences for her.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Schmedding won’t be the only one diagraming plans to slow down that offense.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
Willis said he’s had no problem diagraming plays — whether it be Liberty’s offense or the plays taught to him during the session.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 2, 2022
I do a lot of diagraming stuff before I ever sit down with a computer.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2020
Lunenfeld writes that an “alchemical map of a Los Angeles reimagined transmutes the elements, diagraming a connectionist platzgeist.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2020
Oh, I see," Cleo replied, somewhat satisfied at the diagraming, "and our vacation out at Bellaire is to be a cross between a wedding and a trip to Europe.
From The Girl Scouts at Bellaire Or Maid Mary's Awakening by Garis, Lilian
On the upside, kids no longer have to spend hours of their wild and precious lives diagramming sentences.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2025
It’s much more than an exercise in diagramming a sentence.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2023
He moved beside me on the couch holding a clipboard, and with shaky hands started diagramming essential aspects of his theory that would benefit a case as ostentatious as my own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
This method of plot diagramming also helps you identify where holes may turn up in your plan.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
In Mrs. Baker’s class, we drilled on sentence diagramming.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
